Matthew Henry Commentary 1 John 3:16-21

"Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the world`s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? [My] Little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth. Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him: because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God;" — 1 John 3:16-21 (ASV)

Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love: that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved.

The Holy Spirit, grieved by selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. How then can it be known that a person has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in their heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good things overcomes their feelings of compassion for a perishing brother or sister?

Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a person's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against them.

If conscience condemns us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Therefore, let conscience be well-informed, heard, and diligently attended to.